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Tell Grand Valley State to CUT its CONTRACT with TACO BELL!
Students at Grand Valley State University in Michigan are on a hunger strike, demanding that their school CUT the CONTRACT with TACO BELL until the corporation acts on farmworkers' demands! Their administration is using stalling tactics, such as suggesting a campus referendum; delays while students fast are unacceptable!
Please Take Action to Support Student Hunger Strikers and Workers:
- Please send the message below to GVS University President Mark Murray and Business Services Director Mick Doxey and urge them to cut ties with Taco Bell until it institutes real change to ensure human rights in its supply chain.
- Call them to make sure they received your message! President Murray is at 616-331-2100 and Mr. Doxey is at 616-331-2284.
- Then, please send a solidarity message to the hunger strikers at sasgvsu@riseup.net to show your support.
The momentum on this national student campaign keeps growing - Notre Dame did a 7-day hunger strike last week, Grand Valley is striking now, and students at U. Florida have just pledged to continue the hunger strike next week - students nationwide are united in saying, WE WON'T BUY SWEATSHOP TACOS! BOOT THE BELL until Taco Bell raises farmworker wages!
Help the hunger strikers! Take Action NOW by calling, e-mailing, and faxing GVSU administrators to demand that they listen to their students and CUT THE CONTRACT!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: GVSU: Cut the contract with Taco Bell!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am writing in response to the university's continued refusal to cut its contract with Taco Bell. It is unbelievable that the university is denying responsibility for its ties to Taco Bell, a fast-food chain that ignore numerous and extreme human rights abuses in its supply chain. In the midst of a nation-wide, three-year boycott in which 19 schools have banned Taco Bell from their campuses, GVSU has the opportunity to make history as the 20th school to demand that Taco Bell use its position as a global leader to bring the agrifood industry into the 21st century.
Over 1400 students, Oxfam, and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights have contacted your administration encouraging the removal of Taco Bell. Alarmingly the university's inaction forced a hunger strike -- andeven more upsettingly, the university continues to ignore student concerns. The administration cited a lack of student support and evidence as an excuse for your inaction. The administration's call for a student survey is an outrageous tactic to stall while students starve. Moreover, recent media attention is questioning the image and credibility of GVSU.
The fact remains that cutting GVSU's contract with Taco Bell is the most effective way to improve farmworkers lives, since it directly pressures those with the most power to transform the agricultural industry.
If Grand Valley State University will cut its contract with Taco Bell, it will be a strong testament to the University community's commitment to ethics and to society. I hope that you will make the right decision in the weeks ahead and join the call for justice.
Sincerely,
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